New Delhi, Sept. 22 -- Come 1 October, fund managers under the National Pension System (NPS) will be allowed to craft schemes that offer 100% equity exposure to their non-government subscribers. When it was launched in 2004, the NPS was meant only for government employees-and equity investments were an uncomfortable idea in that construct.

But as the idea of NPS gained ground and extended to non-government employees, it increasingly offered more investment options. The 100% equity option is a natural progression, given the growth in the size of NPS and the profile of its subscriber base.

In the last 15 years, assets under management (AUMs) with the NPS grew at a phenomenal rate of 47% on a compounded annual basis to about Rs.14.36 trill...